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NIVEOUS - "Cult of the Void Star" LP

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:19:03 +0100

NIVEOUS - "Cult of the Void Star" LP

Releasing: July 17, 2026

With the release of Niveous' debut full-length "Cult of the Void Star" just a little over a month away, we wanted to share additional details about the LP!

Contrary to the initial mockup shown when pre-orders were launched, the record itself is not black. Every record was actually pressed in a unique colour, similar to each other but not identical.

The LP production finished last week and we took photos of the actual records themselves to make a new mockup.

"Cult of the Void Star" is pressed in an edition of 300 copies, jointly released between Hypnotic Dirge and Void Star.

There are two editions of the record, the standard edition and a deluxe edition limited to 100 copies.

The deluxe edition includes a bonus full-size 30cm x 30cm 16 page vinyl booklet with original paintings from Will Kramer ( @earthcurves ) & Niveous drummer Nortaath.

In the coming days, we'll share some previews of the art.

There is no additional cost for the deluxe edition. Rather they will be claimed by the first 100 orders of the "Cult of the Void Star" LP (50 each from Hypnotic Dirge and Void Star)

Available to pre-order now:

Hypnotic Dirge (World)

Void Star (US)

Tracklist:

Side A

1 - Harbinger of the Void Star (7:25)

2 - Servants of the Monolith (5:57)

3 - Frostborne Resistance (6:28)

Side B

4 - Baptism of Shadows (6:53)

5 - Northbound (6:40)

6 - Boreal Stronghold (5:33)

PRE-ORDERS LIVE: Niveous - Cult of the Void Star

Sun, 31 May 2026 19:15:52 +0100

Wrought in ice during the autumn of 2025, "Cult of the Void Star" is black metal trio Niveous' debut full-length album, a ferocious blast of icy riffs and immersive atmosphere exploring dark mythologies and cosmic evil entities.

Jointly released by Hypnotic Dirge Records and Void Star Records on LP and CD.

Cassettes will also be available on Silver Shield Records (Out of Season) on release date.

"Cult of the Void Star" releases Friday July 17 with a special release show scheduled for Saturday July 18!

Hypnotic Dirge Shop | Hypnotic Dirge Bandcamp | Void Star Productions (US Orders)

Hypnotic Dirge Shop | Hypnotic Dirge Bandcamp | Void Star Productions (US Orders)

In anticipation of the full release, a new track entitled "Servants of the Monolith" also premieres today!

You can stream it on Bandcamp, Ampwall, Youtube, and all the usual platforms.

• Album Notes •

When a vast monolith from deep space crashes into Earth and plunges the planet into a new ice age, a fanatical cult devoted to a timeless entity known as the Void Star rises amid the apocalyptic chaos. Opposing them are the Ice Tribes—human survivors adapted to the dark, frozen world. Their leader, Cala Garin, is the last living descendant of an ancient race known as the Sorn. War erupts between the Cult and Frostborne survivors as Earth is consumed by black storms and endless blizzards, the world reduced to a frozen wasteland.

As the Void Star hurtles through deep space toward the Monolith, time runs short for Cala and her resistance. When an unexpected signal begins transmitting from the far northern frontier, she gathers her strongest allies and leads a team northbound toward its source. Driven by hope, they vanish into the endless ice—unaware of who, or what, awaits them.

• Tracklist •

1 - Harbinger of the Void Star (7:25)

2 - Servants of the Monolith (5:57)

3 - Frostborne Resistance (6:28)

4 - Baptism of Shadows (6:53)

5 - Northbound (6:40)

6 - Boreal Stronghold (5:33)

• Servants of the Monolith •

Cult of the Void Star by Niveous

SONG PREMIERE : Lumen Ad Mortem - I Never Ceded

Wed, 27 May 2026 20:33:52 +0100

Taken from Lumen Ad Mortem's forthcoming album "A Grave Ascent", "I Never Ceded" opens with a mid-paced minor riff before being joined by triumphant marching drums and haunting synth, building intensity and taking time to shift motifs and add melodic leads over the first half of the song, often veering more into triumphant territory than the rest of the album. At around the half-way point, a descending tremelo-lead kicks in, buttressed by an emotional vocal snarl and rich drum fills that carry the song to the finish line with the riffs transforming from here but keeping the far more nefarious tone that kicked in at the half-way mark.

You can stream "I Never Ceded" on Bandcamp, Ampwall, Youtube, and all the other digital platforms.

"Ghost Gums", released earlier, is also available to stream.

"A Grave Ascent" will be released in its entirety on Friday June 19!

CD's and LP's available to pre-order now
.

"A Grave Ascent" LP [2026; "Canyon Ember" Variant]

-Limited to 100 copies | Shipping September

Pre-order LP - "Canyon Ember" variant

"A Grave Ascent" LP [2026; "Riverbed Current" Variant]

-Limited to 100 copies | Shipping September

Pre-order LP - "Riverbed Current" variant

"A Grave Ascent" CD [2026; 6 Panel Digipack]

-First press limited to 300 copies | Shipping around June 19

Pre-order CD

• Tracklist •

1 - What Was Lost (2:06)

2 - The Departed (7:10)

3 - I Never Ceded (5:22)

4 - Ghost Gums (4:51)

5 - A Grave Ascent (6:04)

6 - A Stone Shall Come to Rest (5:47)

7 - And What is Yet to Lose (10:13)

ALBUM RELEASE: Escaping Aghartha - Lurkers of Languid Waters

Fri, 22 May 2026 17:57:21 +0100

"Lurkers of Languid Waters" - Escaping Aghartha's ninth record, is a concept album about anguillid eels - their biology, life-cycle, and ongoing threats to their survival - told through rich and sprawling experimental doom and black metal.

The album is now streaming in full on Bandcamp, Ampwall, Youtube etc. - and as always available on a name-your-price basis on Bandcamp and Ampwall! "Lurkers of Languid Waters" is available on CD through Hypnotic Dirge and on cassette through Fiadh Productions!

• Album Notes •

Escaping Aghartha is a doom/black metal band from North Carolina, USA. Founded by Avery Dart in 2015, Escaping Aghartha began as a solo experimental project before being joined by CJ Yacoub (drums) and Anghatengh (backing vocals) in 2020. From its founding until today, Escaping Aghartha has released eight full-length albums. With Blackened Doom as their pillar, the band has never-the-less explored beyond the genre with full-length ambient and noise records in their repertoire.

On "Lurkers of Languid Waters", Escaping Aghartha's ninth full-length record, the band focuses on the ongoing declines of anguillid eels, the most notable of which are the Critically Endangered European Eel, Endangered American Eel, and Endangered Japanese Eel. A mammoth of a record with a nearly 80 min runtime, Escaping Aghartha explores the threats to anguillid eels in addition to their biology and incredible life cycle through a tapestry of progressive blackened doom, discordant ambience, and black metal urgency.

To aid eel conservation, Escaping Aghartha is donating all profits from sales of "Lurkers of Languid Waters" on their Bandcamp page during the first month of preorders to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Anguillid Eel Specialist Group (AESG). 50% of digital donations on the Hypnotic Dirge "Lurkers of Languid Waters" Bandcamp page during the first month will also be donated. This group has a history of success in researching, advocating for, and implementing eel conservation. These donations will specifically help fund the AESG assess the population statuses of all 16 species of anguillid eel. This is a critical step in conservation, as without accurate population data, it's difficult to enact effective conservation policy or evaluate the efficacy of ongoing conservation efforts.

Lurkers of Languid Waters by Escaping Aghartha

• Tracklist •

1 - Eel Black Market (16:29)

2 - The Phantoms that Haunt and Linger (10:52)

3 - Altered Currents (7:46)

4 - Degrade and Impede (6:35)

5 - Cradle of the Sargasso Sea (3:45)

6 - Eaten to Obliteration (11:53)

7 - Transformations (4:47)

8 - Journey to the Sargasso Sea (12:18)

Album cover by: Mairead McGuinness

UPCOMING RELEASE: Niveous’ “Cult of the Void Star” releasing Friday July 17

Thu, 21 May 2026 13:58:32 +0100

Niveous is a black metal trio hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (USA), formed in 2024 by Zygrath (Guitars), Vokar (Bass/Vocals), and Nortaath (Drums/Vocals). Drawing inspiration from first and second-wave black metal, the band crafts cold, aggressive music with a focus on atmosphere and immersive storytelling.

After releasing the EP “Endless Snowfall” in 2025, Niveous returns this summer with their debut full-length album “Cult of the Void Star”, the first chapter in a narrative universe with interconnected lore that the band will continue to explore in future recordings.

Today, the band unveils the album art for “Cult of the Void Star”, an original oil painting by drummer Nortaath, capturing the essence of the record’s cosmic themes.

“Cult of the Void Star” will be jointly released on LP and CD formats by Hypnotic Dirge Records in Europe and Void Star Productions in North America. The album will also be released on cassette by Silver Shield Records, distributed by Out of Season. All formats of the album are scheduled for release on Friday July 17 with a release show the very next day on Saturday July 18.

Pre-orders for the album will launch in the coming days, alongside the official premiere of the first single, “Servants of the Monolith.”

Tracklist:

1 - Harbinger of the Void Star (7:25)

2 - Servants of the Monolith (5:57)

3 - Frostborne Resistance (6:28)

4 - Baptism of Shadows (6:53)

5 - Northbound (6:40)

6 - Boreal Stronghold (5:33)

ALBUM RELEASE: Conjuring - Memento Mori

Fri, 08 May 2026 19:16:06 +0100

Today we release the fourth studio album from the Swiss Atmospheric Black Metal project Conjuring.

"Memento Mori" is presented in a 6 Panel Digipack CD - shipping now!

Additionally, you can find the album on Bandcamp, Youtube, Ampwall, and all streaming platforms.

Hypnotic Dirge Store | Bandcamp

All pre-orders and orders placed over the weekend will be shipped early next week!

• Album notes •

Conjuring is a one-man atmospheric black metal project from the Swiss mountains. The music combines melancholic tremolo passages, immersive atmospheres, and dynamic songwriting that balances fragility and intensity. The project draws inspiration from vast landscapes, shifting seasons, fading light, and the quiet presence of ancient spirits.

The upcoming fourth album, "Memento Mori", - is Conjuring’s most mature work to date. Across six carefully crafted compositions, the album explores themes of mortality, transience, and spiritual awakening, embracing darkness and reverence as interconnected aspects of existence.

"Memento Mori" was mixed and mastered at Klangschmiede Studio E, achieving greater clarity while preserving its raw emotional depth and atmospheric quality. Conjuring stands as a reflection of devotion — to Black Metal, to nature, and to the eternal cycle of life and death.

• Bandcamp Player •
Memento Mori by Conjuring

• "Aura" Music Video •

PRE-ORDERS LIVE: Lumen Ad Mortem - A Grave Ascent [CD/LP]

Fri, 01 May 2026 12:23:32 +0100

PRE-ORDERS LIVE: Lumen Ad Mortem - A Grave Ascent [CD/LP]
SONG PREMIERE: Lumen Ad Mortem - Ghost Gums

Hypnotic Dirge Shop - CD | Hypnotic Dirge Shop - LP | Bandcamp

Available to pre-order on LP and CD, "A Grave Ascent" is set to release on CD and all digital formats on Friday June 19. A limited LP edition of the record is also in production, split into two colour variants - 100 in "Canyon Ember" and 100 in "Riverbed Current". LP shipping is scheduled for September.

The track "Ghost Gums" - the first to be shared from the new record - is now streaming on
Bandcamp, Youtube, and Ampwall.

• Album Notes •

Following the release of their debut record, "Upon the Edge of Darkness", in 2023, South Australia’s Lumen Ad Mortem returns this summer with "A Grave Ascent" - a striking dose of ferocious black metal that balances perfectly between an energetic drive fueled by lightning-fast tremolo riffs and a mid-paced dirge drenched in atmosphere.

Crafting anthemic black metal with unrelenting intensity, these new offerings are chock-full of nefarious melodies, wrapped around rhythm guitars and bass that retain a malleable nature, alongside ominous synth lines and drums that relentlessly drive the energy forward. Lyrically, the new album draws from the Australian wellspring of loss, death, and the undying spirit that refuses defeat, driven by an unrelenting force of cold and undeniable vengeance. All is set within an ancient landscape, where the vastness of time and darkness renders human existence utterly insignificant.

Mixed by Patrick Pages Oliver at Blood Wolf Productions, "A Grave Ascent" shines with a harmonious mix - raw, cold and emotional, yet clear and perfectly balanced.

A sonic landscape of chilling melodic ferocity and suffocating atmosphere.

SONG PREMIERE : Escaping Aghartha - Degrade and Impede

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 02:33:49 +0100

A second track from Escaping Aghartha's forthcoming album "Lurkersof Languid Waters" is streaming now!

You can listen to "Degrade and Impede" on Bandcamp and Youtube

Pre-orders for "Lurkers of Languid Waters" are live!

Hypnotic Dirge Store | Bandcamp

Album releasing Friday May 22

• Album Notes •

Escaping Aghartha is a doom/black metal band from North Carolina, USA. Founded by Avery Dart in 2015, Escaping Aghartha began as a solo experimental project before being joined by CJ Yacoub (drums) and Anghatengh (backing vocals) in 2020. From its founding until today, Escaping Aghartha has released eight full-length albums. With Blackened Doom as their pillar, the band has never-the-less explored beyond the genre with full-length ambient and noise records in their repertoire.

On "Lurkers of Languid Waters", Escaping Aghartha's ninth full-length record, the band focuses on the ongoing declines of anguillid eels, the most notable of which are the Critically Endangered European Eel, Endangered American Eel, and Endangered Japanese Eel. A mammoth of a record with a nearly 80 min runtime, Escaping Aghartha explores the threats to anguillid eels in addition to their biology and incredible life cycle through a tapestry of progressive blackened doom, discordant ambience, and black metal urgency.

To aid eel conservation, Escaping Aghartha is donating all profits from sales of "Lurkers of Languid Waters" on their Bandcamp page during the first month of preorders to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Anguillid Eel Specialist Group (AESG). 50% of digital donations on the Hypnotic Dirge "Lurkers of Languid Waters" Bandcamp page during the first month will also be donated. This group has a history of success in researching, advocating for, and implementing eel conservation. These donations will specifically help fund the AESG assess the population statuses of all 16 species of anguillid eel. This is a critical step in conservation, as without accurate population data, it's difficult to enact effective conservation policy or evaluate the efficacy of ongoing conservation efforts.

Album cover by: Mairead Mc Guinness

• Tracklist •

1 - Eel Black Market (16:29)

2 - The Phantoms that Haunt and Linger (10:52)

3 - Altered Currents (7:46)

4 - Degrade and Impede (6:35)

5 - Cradle of the Sargasso Sea (3:45)

6 - Eaten to Obliteration (11:53)

7 - Transformations (4:47)

8 - Journey to the Sargasso Sea (12:18)

• Bandcamp Player •
Lurkers of Languid Waters by Escaping Aghartha

ALBUM RELEASE: Tumultuous Ruin - An Abscess on the Heart of the State

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 17:36:03 +0100

It is with great pleasure that we are officially releasing Tumultuous Ruin's full-length "An Abscess on the Heart of the State" in collaboration with Fiadh Productions!

Europe / Asia - Order from Hypnotic Dirge | North & South America - Order from Fiadh Productions

Africa, Australia / Oceania, etc - Your Choice

All pre-orders have been shipped!

• Album notes •

Rooted in fury and urgency, "An Abscess on the Heart of the State" is a raw onslaught of destructive and dirty black metal filled with aggressive and discordant riffs that invoke the spirit of the second-wave sound with cold soaring tremolo leads brushing against urgent rhythm sections. The occasional hint of death metal and hardcore, the intuition to know when to add a hypnotizing lead or haunting synth line, and the pacing and tempo variations throughout the runtime keeps the album captivating. Inspired by the books Against His-story Against Leviathan, Ishmael, Desert, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, The Dispossessed, the 1991 film Clear Cut and a general desire to destroy all systems of oppression, "An Abscess on the Heart of the State" is an uncompromising cry for justice and revolution!

"An Abscess on the Heart of the State" was originally self-released by Tumultuous Ruin and then later on cassette by Fiadh Productions & Vita Detestabilis Records in 2023.

The first LP pressing of "An Abscess on the Heart of the State" was released by Fiadh Productions and Hypnotic Dirge Records on April 24, 2026

• Tracklist •

Side A

1 - Destroy What Destroys Us

2 - Sabotage Glee

3 - Desecrate Machine as Our World Dies

4 - Revel in Downfall

Side B

5 - Unmoor

6 - Dystopic Hellscape

7 - Last Rites of the Dying World

8 - We Are Not Afraid of Ruins *

*Vinyl exclusive bonus track

• Bandcamp Player •
An Abscess on the Heart of the State by Tumultuous Ruin

SONG PREMIERE: Conjuring - Memento Mori

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 17:33:17 +0100

The title track from Conjuring official 's upcoming album "Memento Mori" is now online!

Memento Mori will be released on Friday May 8.

Pre-orders are live now!

Hypnotic Dirge Store | Bandcamp

• Album notes •

Conjuring is a one-man atmospheric black metal project from the Swiss mountains. The music combines melancholic tremolo passages, immersive atmospheres, and dynamic songwriting that balances fragility and intensity. The project draws inspiration from vast landscapes, shifting seasons, fading light, and the quiet presence of ancient spirits.

The upcoming fourth album, "Memento Mori", - is Conjuring’s most mature work to date. Across six carefully crafted compositions, the album explores themes of mortality, transience, and spiritual awakening, embracing darkness and reverence as interconnected aspects of existence.

"Memento Mori" was mixed and mastered at Klangschmiede Studio E, achieving greater clarity while preserving its raw emotional depth and atmospheric quality. Conjuring stands as a reflection of devotion — to Black Metal, to nature, and to the eternal cycle of life and death.

• Bandcamp Player •
Memento Mori by Conjuring